Loss
by Zeiyuu
Summary: Everybody experiences loss at one point or another, Natsu just wasn't prepared to lose her. And of course, she wasn't prepared to lose him either. NaLu. Warning: Character Death
1. Black Hand

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, which is probably a good thing xD

Get ready for some angst! I hope you enjoy~

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Blood.

It was everywhere.

Lucy's blood.

Lucy was dying and there wasn't anything the rose-haired mage could do.

He begged the Wind Dragon Slayer to do something, anything. Though the sapphire haired girls silent tears told him all he needed to know.

Lucy wasn't going to make it.

The blonde woman gasped for air, a horrible sound that Natsu knew he would never forget. She couldn't get enough of it despite her frantic attempts to draw air into her collapsed lungs. She coughed, blood dripped down from the corners of her mouth.

"N-Nats-su…" she struggled and immediately he clutched at the hand that she outstretched towards him.

"Don't talk!" He ordered, barely able to recognize the sound of his own voice. It was frantic, desperate. "You need to focus on healing okay?"

"Natsu-san…" This time, it was Wendy who spoke. Her uncertainty was clear in her voice, "I-I think you should let her say what she wants to say-"

"No!" Natsu shouted, shocking the younger Dragon Slayer into silence. He'd never yelled at her like that before. But how could she even suggest something like that? "She can say whatever she wants to say to me when she heals up!" He turned his gaze back down to Lucy, whose breathing had become a little bit less frantic. Her eyelids were drooping and her eyes lacked their usual spark, Lucy's grip on his hand weakened.

"Lucy!" He exclaimed, "Lucy, Lucy!" He squeezed her hand tightly, his whole body shook with so many emotions that he couldn't even think straight.

Slowly, Lucy's eyes moved from where she'd been staring at nothing before, and she met his gaze.

Obsidian clashed with liquid brown.

Then she smiled.

Despite all that was happening, the chaos of battle not far from where they were… Natsu's breath caught in his throat as his eyes widened. How could she be smiling? How could she… when she was clearly in a lot of pain? His eyebrows furrowed as he forced a smile as well.

"Hey, that's what I like to see." He said, much quieter than all of his prior outbursts. "Everything is going to be okay," keeping a good grasp on her hand with one of his own, he reached out with his other and wiped away a tear that had spilled from her eye. "Just hold on a little bit longer, okay? Porlyusica can fix you up when we get back to the guild."

Wendy was sobbing into her hands now.

"I-I had a l-lot of-," Lucy coughed wetly and more blood emerged from her lips, she grimaced. Natsu's smile froze on his face. "F-fun, p-partner." she finished after a long moment of trying to get enough air to do so. She struggled to smile again for her friend.

"Yeah? Good! We can have a lot more fun after all of this is over, how about we go to the beach and train there for a little while? Like back before the Magic Games? That was a lot of fun!"

Slowly, Lucy's smile faded.

Her eyelids drooped once more and her hand became completely limp in his grasp.

The celestial mage's head dropped to the side and her unseeing eyes stared straight ahead.

Wendy's sobs became louder and Natsu's heart squeezed tightly within his chest. This wasn't happening. He had to be having some kind of horrible nightmare.

He shook his head, tears prickling at his eyes as he stared at the face of his unmoving partner.

"No…" he trailed off, "No no no, no!" he exclaimed again, trading Lucy's hand for her whole body as he pulled her close to him. Hugging the young womans broken body and buried his face into the crook of her neck, he inhaled deeply and his body began to shake again.

Already her scent was fading.

Her beautiful, intoxicating scent, jasmine and rain, was mixing with a scent he never wanted to experience smelling on a friend. Especially not on Lucy.

Death.

The smell of blood and death was quickly overwhelming Lucy's sweet scent. The scent that he had so long ago become accustomed to, become familiar with.

"Lucy!" He cried out, throwing his head back in despair as he shouted. Tears rolled down his cheeks freely before he hugged the blonde's body tighter to himself and buried his face in her hair.

His anguish-filled wails could be heard even through the distant sounds of battle.

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Please review~ I'd love to hear what you all think!


	2. Untouchable

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail doesn't belong to me

Here we go! I'm going to do my best to actually get a chapter up every day or every other day~ I'm really enjoying writing this. Though I am coming up with everything as I go! So please be patient with me~

I owe a big thanks to peacerockgirl123 for motivating me into actually turning this would-be oneshot into an actual story! I really appreciate your thoughtful words and help in figuring out how to make the story go on!

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The feeling of complete dread that had begun to creep up inside of her was overwhelming, Lucy Heartfilia had never felt such complete anguish before.

She was _dead_. Dead as a doornail.

There would be no more work. She would never have the chance to see Nab actually choose a job.

There would be no more surprise visits at her apartment. Despite how angry she would be in the moment, Lucy would be lying if she said that she actually disliked those instants. She always felt so completely loved, knowing that her friends wanted to see her even outside of the guildhall and during jobs.

She would never feel the warmth that radiated off of Natsu's body again. The comfort that he always gave her, just by being around.

Even now, as she watched him weep and clutch her so desperately to himself… she felt nothing except despair. She couldn't even feel the clothes on her back.

She wanted to go to him. To tell him that everything would be okay, that she would be fine. Though she knew that there was no way she could do something like that. Especially not considering the fact that she was standing beside him while he cradled her body at the same time.

Slowly, Lucy reached out. As if to touch his hair, but flinched when her somewhat shimmering and translucent fingers went clean through. As if he wasn't there. Though she knew that the truth was that she wasn't there. Or rather, she _shouldn't_ be there.

Noticing a shadow heading directly towards the them, Lucy barely looked up in time to notice a massive boulder falling.

She couldn't be thinking about her strange situation right now.

"Look out!" she shouted, though her voice was quiet despite the strain, and it was clear that her friends hadn't heard her warning. "Get out of the way!"

"Natsu-san!" Wendy shouted, jumping up and barely managed to destroy it in time with her Dragon's Roar. Although to her dismay, several other equally large chunks of rock were falling as well. She continued to use her Dragon's Roar, taking them out as they came.

Lucy's gaze jerked from where she'd been watching Wendy, to Natsu, who hadn't so much as flinched as the pieces of rock rained down upon them. He'd only slightly leaned forward so that more of his body was covering Lucy's.

The sight was difficult to watch.

"Natsu!" the blonde screamed as loud as her non-existent lungs allowed her.

This time, Natsu reacted. Though she wasn't sure if it was because of her exclamation, or the fact that one of the chunks of rock had managed to bounce from the ground and hit her lifeless bodies cheek. It left a smudge of dirt where it had impacted.

Natsu stood in one fluid motion, not releasing the Celestial Wizard's body as he did so.

He disappeared from where he'd been standing just a moment previous and Lucy's eyes landed on the shocking amount of blood that remained. All of a sudden, she remembered what had happened and she felt extremely nauseous.

How was it that somebody who no longer could so much as breathe, feel nauseous? Was it simply her memory of the sensation? She wasn't sure.

Soon, she was looking around. Trying to see where Natsu had run off to and blinked when she found that he'd just laid her body down a good few meters away, out of the falling boulder range.

Why exactly were so many falling anyway? Lucy didn't remember hearing about this area being a danger zone for this kind of thing. Although she did remember the boulder that had ended her life. It had been exactly like the ones that were falling now. Jagged and massive.

She remembered just how frightened she'd become when she saw that one had been about to take Natsu out, how that fear turned into relief when she'd barely managed to shove Natsu out of the way in time. Although, that relief had not lasted long when the pain of the impact followed shortly after.

The rest was history.

Knowing now that she would die, and that it would be so painful… Lucy still wouldn't have changed her actions. She was genuinely glad that Natsu was alive, that no one would need to mourn over the death of Natsu Dragneel.

Lucy couldn't imagine the pain of losing Natsu.

Movement dragged Lucy's attention from her extremely morbid thoughts.

Natsu had just risen up, she couldn't see his eyes from where she was standing. Although she could imagine what they were looking like.

Lucy was all too familiar with the prospect of an angry Natsu. She'd seen him become fiercely passionate so often in the time that she'd known the rose-haired Dragon Slayer. Truly… it was one of the many things that drew her to him.

It was one of the many things he did which made her heart skip a beat.

"I don't know who you are…" Lucy blinked when she realized that she had once more gotten lost in her thoughts and memories. It must be because she was dead, Lucy had always been a bit on the scatterbrained side. Though not when things like this were happening. Not when she needed to pay attention.

Natsu's raised, clenched fists were engulfed by flames that Lucy was sure were giving off heat that could be felt from an impressive distance. They flared in such an enraged way that made Lucy worry about the other Dragon Slayer, would Wendy be okay? She was so close…

"I don't know why you are so twisted…" Natsu's voice was low, dangerously low. Lucy could practically hear the rumble of the growl he was keeping from reaching his words. The way he spoke was frightening, especially when put together with how his flames blazed in contrast to their relatively dark surroundings.

The sun had begun to set a short while ago, although it had been obstructed by the mountains that surrounded them for a little while now. Lucy hardly noticed with all that had been going on around them in addition to her own inner turmoil.

"All I know, is that you are gonna fry you bastard!" Natsu hardly finished his sentence before he disappeared. Lucy looked around frantically for a moment before it occured her to look up.

Natsu leapt from falling boulder to falling boulder at a ridiculous speed, it took Lucy a long moment to actually see where he was going.

That was when she saw the figure of somebody whom she hadn't realized was there, they stood pretty far from where the group had been before. They were so high up that Lucy was surprised Natsu had noticed them at all. Though she supposed that by now she should really stop becoming so astounded by the things that Natsu was capable of. Especially when he was upset.

The figure looked as though… was its hand extended towards them?

Could it be that this man had caused the falling boulders?

"How dare you take her away from me?! How dare you do it right in front of my eyes?!" There was a flash and a moment of calm that Wendy used to protect herself and Lucy's body with a carefully made dome of quickly moving air. The heat and wind as well as some pieces of mountain caused by Natsu's attack slammed into the dome a moment later.

Lucy was certain that were she all there, she'd have been blown away.

A few more flashes and one scream that sounded as though it had been cut off later, and everything seemed to calm down once more. Lucy couldn't see the light of Natsu's flames and almost immediately she became unsettled. Her concern only grew in intensity when she saw a silhouette approaching them through the clouds of dirt and rubble.

That mountain hadn't stood a chance.

Soon, she felt her unease ebb away when she recognized Natsu as he got closer.

His expression was drawn as he waited for Wendy to lower her guard.

"Natsu…" the Wind Dragon Slayer whispered, her voice breaking as she did so. "I-I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything…" Lucy could practically hear the tears developing within the young girl's sorrowful eyes. When she looked… she could see the guilt in them as well.

"Don't." Natsu uttered, not even looking at Wendy as he walked past her and to the body that lay on the ground. His voice was quiet again and his body language unreadable as he knelt down beside the still frame of his fallen comrade. "You aren't the one to blame, Wendy. So don't apologize and don't guilt yourself."

Lucy had never seen him like this before.

She walked around the two so that she could get a better look on the Fire-wielder's face.

His tears had dried, though the grief that filled those eyes as he gazed down at her bloody face… it was unbearable. Lucy actually had to look away and she could swear that she felt the need to cry as well, even though she was almost positive that she couldn't considering the current physical state she was in.

Abruptly, there was a surge of sensation.

So many different sensations that Lucy actually dropped to her knees, her mouth agap yet could make no sound.

Pain, discomfort, nausea, vertigo, and so many others, all at once. Each one cranking up the voltage to one-hundred percent. She couldn't even scream as she fell the rest of the way to the ground and her body convulsed violently.

Soon, the pain disappeared and when she opened her eyes once more… she was no longer with her friends. She had no idea _where_ she was.

The place sure was _bright_ though.

As far as she could see, there was nothing besides a fairly intense white light. A light which she couldn't figure the source of.

Aside from that, she couldn't see anything. No nature, no buildings... hell, the ground wasn't even there. She was seemingly standing on thin air. Which for some reason didn't freak her out quite as much as it probably should have.

She could only guess that it was the shock.

Could this be heaven? Or perhaps some kind of limbo? She was dead after all, the formerly Celestial Spirit Wizard certainly couldn't assume that she'd stay with her guildmates. She supposed that she couldn't really be too surprised about the process, there really was no way to know what actually happened when one kicked the bucket.

"Lucy Heartfilia." A voice boomed, immediately making her jump in surprise as she spun on her heel. Only to find herself nose to nose with an oddly familiar man who had pitch black hair and bright green eyes. His skin was practically flawless and the sly grin that rested upon his lips gave a lot away about this person's character.

Taking several large steps away from this strange person, Lucy held up her arms. Making an 'x' with them as if to say 'no thank you'. "Wh-who are you?" she demanded, her tough-girl act dismantling the moment she stammered.

The man didn't seem phased by her reaction to him and only chuckled.

"My name is Wiatt, and I am here to serve as the guide for your travels," his voice was so smooth… almost like silk. The young woman was a bit shocked by how ready she was to trust him, to listen to whatever he had to say. It was a bit off putting actually, though she couldn't bring herself to think straight.

"Travels?" she questioned.

"But of course! Unless you think you can figure out the Afterlife all on your own?"

It felt as though her world was crumbling.

So this was it. She really was dead, she wouldn't be returning to Natsu or the others ever again. She knew that she shouldn't be taken by surprise with this revelation. She'd practically already accepted it.

Even so, tears filled her eyes as the misery settled in.

Oh Natsu…

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There you have it! I hope that you enjoyed! Please review~ I _feed_ off of _feed_ back haha- see what I did there?

But really, each review is heavily appreciated!


	3. Defeat and Victory

UWAH sorry it took me so long to update! Some things came up irl and I've been pretty busy! Though hopefully I'm going to be able to get back into the swing of things! To be honest, I actually wrote and re-wrote this chapter several times. So I hope you enjoy! Oh also! The cover for the story IS something I drew for this story specifically~ so maybe I can use that as an excuse as to why it took me so long to write this chapter? Ahaha? No? Okay v.v

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"Natsu, you should come inside. I don't think the rain is supposed to let up any time soon and you've already been out here for hours…" Gray sounded uncomfortable as he spoke. He'd come out with Lisanna to try and talk Natsu into returning to the guildhall, or at the very least, his house.

The Fire Dragon Slayer didn't move from where he was kneeling beside the freshly upturned soil. His drenched hair hung loosely over his face, making it impossible to see his eyes, Gray was really beginning to worry for his comrade.

"How can you expect me to go inside and enjoy anything… while Lucy is out here, six feet under?" The question was quiet, nearly drowned out by the heavy rain that fell upon and around them. Though Gray heard, and he recoiled as though he'd been slapped.

"Listen here Flame Breath," Gray moved so quickly that Lisanna didn't even have time to protest. His fists curled into the collar of Natsu's vest and glared into his face as he pulled the other man up from the ground. Natsu didn't even look at him. "Do you really think Lucy would want you to torture yourself like this?! Hell no! If she could-" his voice broke as a sob managed to shake its way through his hardened body and his grip on Natsu lessened a bit as he took a moment to try and calm himself.

Lucy may not have been with them as long as many of the others… though she had really managed to wiggle her way into the hearts of every single member in the guild. She had been special, and Gray was hurting just as much as the next person. Even if he was a little bit better at hiding that than most of the other guild members.

"If she could, she would be dragging you inside herself." he finished a bit more quietly, though Natsu finally looked at his face. "So that's exactly what I'm going to do if I have to. You can hate me all you want now, but I don't give a damn. Everybody is hurting Natsu," Gray paused before releasing his grip and was relieved to see that Natsu stood instead of falling back to the ground. "You're not alone in this, don't you think for a second that you're alone in this."

For a long few moments, they all stood there quietly, before Natsu was the one to break the silence with a shaky sigh.

"You're right," he said after another moment, "Everybody loves Lucy. How could they not? She is… she was…" he trailed off before he shook his head and his hands tightened into fists. "She shouldn't have died Gray, I shoulda protected her. I…"

Gray placed a hand on the Fire mage's shoulder, "Wendy already explained everything Natsu, there wasn't anything you could have done. You can't blame yourself for this, can you imagine how much that would hurt Lucy if she knew how you were taking all of this?" He really didn't like using Lucy to guilt Natsu out of his current behavior and attitude, though Gray really didn't see another option.

And he was speaking the truth. Lucy would be fuming right now because of all that was going on. She'd also be sad. Lucy cared about everybody just as much as they cared about her.

She would hate to see them so torn up. Though Gray knew it was impossible to be happy right now, and he was sure that she'd understand that much.

"Alright, let's go." Natsu said eventually, defeated. Gray could only figure that he knew how Lucy would feel as well. "Is there any word on when Happy will be getting back? I need to be the one who tells him."

Gray shook his head. "No, the cats could be gone anywhere from another day to another week. You know how it is when they visit the other Exceed. They lose track of time." Gray didn't even want to think about that little blue cat learning about Lucy.

Natsu nodded in understanding and the trio made their way back to the guild.

It was a painful place to be. Not a single person was smiling, hardly anybody spoke… if it wasn't for the sound of Levy's constant whimpers, Gray might have been convinced that he was going deaf.

Fairy Tail was never this quiet.

Difficult as it might be, this was a step that they were all going to have to take in order to make it through their friend's death.

While Lisanna and Gray both walked towards the bar, Natsu remained frozen just barely inside the building. Lisanna was already speaking quietly with Mirajane before Gray noticed that his hot-headed friend was no longer following along.

When he turned to look, he was shocked by the expression that Natsu was sporting.

The rose-haired mage was smiling. He grinned from ear-to-ear in a way that easily put the ice mage off, had Natsu actually snapped?

"Natsu…?" Gray began cautiously as he slowly approached his friend, "What's happening right now? Are you okay?"

"Am I okay? Sure! Of course I am! There really isn't any reason to get all worked up about this, everybody! Don't worry! Everything is going to be okay!" He was shouting now, making sure that everybody was going to get a good look at his break in sanity.

Gray looked around and everybody was looking now, all eyes were on Natsu. The confusion was evident in each face.

"Natsu, I dont-" Gray started to try and say something that could diffuse the situation, though was interrupted almost immediately.

"I'm gonna get Lucy back!"

Everybody froze.

Gray wouldn't be surprised if every single person stopped breathing for a second, he certainly did as he stared at Natsu. Gray wanted to believe that had simply misheard Natsu, or something along those lines. Though it was clear that wasn't the case when he elaborated.

"I might be gone for a while though, so try not to mess anything up while I'm not here, okay Ice Princess?" Natsu then smacked Gray on the shoulder a few times before turning and bolting right back out and into the rain.

"Natsu!" Erza screamed after him, though he was already gone. She groaned before placing both hands on her hips as she turned her gaze onto Gray, "We really need to figure something out. Natsu is going to get seriously hurt if we don't stop him, that idiot…" she trailed off as her eyebrows knitted together. Her own emotions beginning to surface.

"I don't know…" Gray finally said after a long moment, "Natsu… he really seemed like he'd thought of something. What if…?"

Erza was now eyeing Gray, "Don't tell me I'm going to have to deal with you too. Gray, we saw her. We know what happened. Natsu carried her all the way back here, easily an eight hour trip. You saw how stiff her body had become, Lucy is gone. As horrible as that may be… it's the truth. There is no bringing back the dead, even if there was… I don't doubt that there would be some pretty severe risks."

Gray knew that Erza was right.

Though Natsu had sounded so sure. There was so much certainty in those eyes that had lacked any semblance of what Natsu usually was, so it was pretty difficult to believe that Natsu was just talking about bringing Lucy back just to say it. Up until just a few minutes ago, he had looked so defeated, so the switch from defeat to confidence was certainly enough to shock the ice mage quite thoroughly.

All he knew, was that there was no way in hell he was going to let Natsu do whatever he was planning on doing alone. If there really was a way to get Lucy back, Gray wanted to help and make sure that it would actually happen.

Knowing Natsu, he'd get hot-headed and mess something up.

Without another word, Gray bolted out into the rain as well, ignoring the incredulous shouts that he left behind.

Natsu had been heading in a certain direction, and he had a feeling that he knew where the rose-haired mage was headed. His assumptions were correct when he saw the lights on inside of a certain apartment building.

Gray felt his chest tighten as he hesitated to actually go inside the building and meet Natsu up there. He could picture all of Lucy's things, exactly the way that she'd left them before they had headed off on that last job.

He swallowed nervously before he steeled himself and made quick work of scaling the building and climbing in through the still open window that Natsu had crawled in through before him.

He was stunned by the sight before him.

"Natsu what the hell?!" He demanded, feeling rage begin to bubble up once again within him.

Lucy's room was a mess. It was definitely not the way she'd left it, he always knew Lucy to be a fairly tidy person. She always kept her room clean, if it was every messy… it was because Natsu had been around.

Like now.

Lucy's clothes were thrown about, her books… he had never seen her place look like this before.

"Gray? Why are you here?" Natsu asked, pausing in his efforts to trash Lucy's place even further. His hands were in a certain drawer that Lucy was very specific on them never ever touching.

"Natsu! Are you some kind of pervert?! What the hell are you doing?!" He had to seriously hold himself back in order to keep from attacking the fire mage.

Natsu looked confused at the accusation before he looked down and saw that he was actually holding a pair of Lucy's panties. His cheeks flushed and he quickly let them go before he threw his hands up into the air, though he had an angry expression on his face as he glared at Gray.

"Of course not Droopy Eyes! I'm looking for something. But why are you here?"

Before Gray could shout again, a bright light flashed. It was so bright, he had to cover his eyes.

"Were you looking for this, Natsu?" a familiar voice asked, a voice that belonged to somebody who definitely hadn't been present before and Gray spun on his heel to see a certain orange-haired man that he had not been expecting to see again.

"Loke?"

The Celestial Spirit didn't smile, though he nodded at Gray in acknowledgement before his eyes were on Natsu again. He held Lucy's keys in his right hand, while his left was in his pocket.

"Ah! Yeah!" Natsu said happily as he came away from the dresser and began to walk towards Loke, "I remembered that Erza and Levy had taken Lucy here to get her changed and cleaned up before…" he trailed off, his smile faltering a moment before he shook his head. "So I figured that the keys were left here. But I don't need them anymore if you're here."

Gray frowned at Natsu, not entirely sure what he was getting at

"You guys for sure know of a way to bring Lucy back, right? You can do it?"

Loke's expression didn't change, but Gray's eyes widened as his attention flew back to the Lion. Why hadn't he thought of that? The Celestial Spirits were old, so old that he was sure they knew of things that were far beyond the understanding of those who barely lived to one-hundred.

"You aren't wrong, there is a way." Loke said slowly, calculatively. "Though I'm afraid you aren't going to like the costs."

Natsu gritted his teeth in response to the Lions words. Gray could hear the growl from where he stood. "Like hell I wont like the costs! I don't give a shit about what it costs, whatever I can do to bring Lucy back… I will do it." His words were unwavering and Loke couldn't help but smile a bit at that.

"That's good to know, unfortunately if you're successful… there is a good chance that Lucy won't exactly be the Lucy that you remember." The words seemed to cause Loke pain as he spoke, a grimace was evident on his face and Gray wasn't sure how to feel about all of this.

"That's supposed to change my mind?!" Natsu was getting angry now, "Lucy is Lucy! So long as she is alive it doesn't matter what you think will change!"

"There is a very good chance that Lucy won't remember you, Natsu." Loke said, unphased by the Dragon Slayer's rage. "That she won't remember Fairy Tail. If you are successful, Lucy will remember nothing about the life that she lived with you and the others."

That seemed to stop Natsu in his tracks.

"... What?"

"The only way for Lucy to come back, is for her to become a Celestial Spirit."

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I honestly don't really read a lot of Fairy Tail fanfiction, though I feel like this is probably something that has been done? I don't know. Don't hurt me! I have plans! Please review! I honestly get motivation from the feedback ehehe


	4. Essence

Here we are! I know I said I would try and update every day or every other day, though with how busy I have been... I'll just do my best to keep on updating!

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For a long time Natsu and Gray simply stared at Loke, the both of them were struggling to comprehend what the Celestial Spirit had said.

"The only way for Lucy to come back, is for her to become a Celestial Spirit?" Natsu asked dumbly, the information clearly not sitting well in his brain. When Loke nodded, Natsu frowned.

"So let me get this straight," Gray began as he crossed his arms over his now bare chest, "You are telling us that it's possible for a Human to become a Celestial Spirit? Even if that Human has died? That sounds awfully convenient, Loke."

Loke sighed before he lowered both of his hands to his sides, the keys jingled in a familiar way that almost made Natsu cringe.

"I never said that just anybody could go through a change like this," he said with a pained look on his face, "It isn't a change that most people would want anyway, especially since it requires losing most of yourself in order to become something completely different. The process of a becoming a Celestial Spirit is a very particular one, the requirements are extremely difficult to meet."

Both the ice and fire mages stared at Loke, silently willing him to continue.

"The first eliminates most Humans, because it is simply that the candidate must have been a Celestial mage while they were among the living. As I'm sure the both of you already know, Celestial mages are not exactly common in the world. The reason for that is because the magic required to summon Celestial Spirits is a very special kind of magic, a very _rare_ kind of magic. A magic that I do not doubt will be completely exhausted from this world within the next few centuries. Every Celestial mage has their name written in the stars.

"The second, is that they must have had a decent amount of magical power. I'm not sure if you knew, but Lucy always had a lot of latent capabilities. I don't doubt that she would have really grown to become a mage that could rival the both of you in power and battle strength."

This was a fact that surprised both of the Fairy Tail mages.

Of course, they'd known Lucy was strong. Though they also knew that she struggled quite a bit when it came to one-on-one fighting.

"The third," Loke continued, "is that the candidate was on good terms with the Celestial Spirit King before they passed on. Considering how close to impossible it is to even meet him, I'm sure you can figure by now just how close to impossible it is to reach the requirements necessary to become a Celestial Spirit. Lucy… well, she was really a very special person. In every way possible. If she didn't reach almost every necessary requirement, I wouldn't be here right now talking to the two of you."

Natsu was growling again.

"What do you mean _almost_ every necessary requirement?" He demanded, "What requirement doesn't she meet? Why the hell would you tell us all of this, only for it to not be possible to bring her back?"

Loke waved his empty hand around, "Natsu, calm down. I didn't say it was impossible for her to reach the final requirement. That's because the final requirement is her acknowledging the fact that she would be abandoning her past. Accepting that she would have no memory of you or Fairy Tail. The reason I'm so unsure that she will be able to reach that requirement however…" Loke trailed off and he suddenly looked very tired. "Its very difficult for me to believe that Lucy would ever want to do something like that. That she would ever _willingly_ choose to forget about you and Fairy Tail."

Gray looked down, and Natsu tightened his hands into fists.

"There isn't even a small chance she'll remember us? Why does she need to forget?" Natsu asked.

"Well for one, they would be her Human memories. Once she becomes a Celestial Spirit… Lucy would no longer be Human. Her entire bodily and mental structure would change, there is no guarantee that she would even look the same. The only thing that would stay true to her, the only thing that would make it all worth it… is the fact that her soul would remain untouched. The essence of Lucy would still be there."

For a long moment, nobody spoke.

"Well, then I guess we're just going to have to leave our mark on her soul." Natsu said with a confident grin, and a fire of determination that burned in his obsidian eyes. A determination that burned so brightly, Gray immediately began to feel motivated as a grin spread across his face as well.

"Hell yeah we will!"

Now Loke was the one staring at _them_.

It was only a moment before he chuckled and shook his head, "I knew that you'd come to a conclusion like that, which is why I took it upon myself to get these." He held out two fairly plain looking tickets and both Natsu and Gray took one. Only the word 'Solin' was printed on each one.

"These are boat tickets. The only way for you to get in touch with Lucy as she is right now… is for you to speak with a mage who can make contact with her. A mage that specializes in dealing with Human spirits. Unfortunately, the mages who can do this are generally very lacking in empathy. So there is a good chance they will deny you their assistance. Especially since they are sought out quite often by those who are missing their loved ones.

"However, I don't doubt that the two of you will be able to convince _somebody_ to help you out. You Fairies are pretty good at convincing people to do things that they wouldn't normally do. You have a way of changing people."

Natsu laughed at that.

"Well, you're a Fairy too you know!" He said happily, "So you're stuck with the responsibility of sticking to your guns like the rest of us."

Loke chuckled and would have replied to that had he not noticed that Gray was looking down at the ticket he was holding with a peculiar expression on his face.

"Do you have more of these? I'm pretty sure that everybody is going to want to help out as much as possible."

Loke shook his head, "Truthfully Gray, I was only planning on telling Natsu all of this. The information I just revealed is extremely sensitive. The fewer who know, the better. Besides, if Lucy doesn't remember any of you… wouldn't it be more painful on the others?"

Gray sighed before he shrugged.

"I have faith in the two of you," His eyes then were on Natsu, "Lucy really cared about you, you know." Loke said seriously. "I'm not sure you understand just how deeply her emotions for you ran, Natsu. This is why I knew right away that you were the best bet on being the one who could convince her." Loke walked forward and placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder before offering Lucy's keys. "You're going to need these where you're going, be careful not to lose them."

Natsu accepted the keys and quickly made himself familiar with their weight as he looped them through his belt.

"Take the train to Hargeon and then talk to an old fisherman there named Wes. If you show him those tickets, he will know where to take you. I'd offer to tag along, but I've really got a lot of stuff I need to attend to back home. A lot of preparations to make for Lucy." He winked at them before he took a couple steps back and offered a small bow. "I leave the rest to you."

And then he was gone.

"Well, I guess we should get going! I just wish that I could tell Happy where I'm headed, it doesn't feel right to leave him behind."

Gray sighed for what felt like the millionth time since they'd gotten back to Magnolia.

"You heard Loke, we can't draw too much attention to what we're going to be doing. You're lucky to have me around for this, there is no way in hell you would have been able to do something so complicated like this on your own. Especially since it involves traveling by train _and_ boat."

Natsu turned blue at the mention of all the transportation.

"The sooner we get there, the sooner we get Lucy back. If riding a train or a boat is what it takes…" Natsu swallowed uncomfortably, "Then that's what I'm gonna do. Just… just make sure I get off on time."

Gray nodded and the two split up so that they could get ready for the trip. They didn't really have any idea how long it would take, so they figured it would be safe to prepare for the worst. It wasn't too long before they met up at the train station.

"Erza almost caught me," Gray said grumpily as he approached Natsu, the pink hair really stood out in a crowd. "The train better be leaving soon, I'm not sure how much longer we're going to be able to avoid everybody while we're still in town."

When Natsu didn't reply, or even turn around. Gray frowned.

"Hey, Flame Brain, I'm talking to you." Gray growled as he walked around so that he could yell at him properly.

He froze in place when he saw Happy.

Natsu was trying to calm the sobbing cat down as he pet his head, though it really wasn't working.

"Lucyyy," The cat wailed, drawing out the former Celestial mage's name shakily as he trembled in Natsu's arms.

"Hey, don't worry Happy. Everything is going to be okay, you don't need to cry!" Natsu was saying, though it really was a lame attempt at trying to sooth the poor thing.

"H-How can you say that Natsu?" Happy sniffled loudly, "Lucy is gone! Erza had to tell me since you weren't at the guild… you were just going to leave without telling me? You're so mean Natsu!" Despite his accusations, Happy clung to Natsu as if he was afraid that he would never see the Fire mage again.

Natsu looked so conflicted in that moment, it actually made Gray feel a little bit bad.

Before Gray could say anything, there Loke was.

"It's fine." He said without waiting for a proper reaction, "I suppose that I should have said that it would be okay to bring Happy along, though I guess I kind of figured that would be obvious. I know how practically inseparable the two of you are, I'm not an idiot." Happy stared at Loke, clearly surprised by the appearance of one of Lucy's Spirits.

Having said all he needed to say, Loke disappeared just as quickly as he'd popped in. Which left Gray to explain the situation to Happy since they were now boarding the train and Natsu was soon incapable of doing such a thing.

Thankfully, Happy was actually quite smart. He absorbed all of the information pretty quickly and had finally managed to stop crying. Though the comfort of knowing that Lucy would be able to come back wasn't quite enough to completely take away the pain of the fact that she was no longer alive in that moment. It became clear that Happy was thinking that same exact thing when he spoke again.

"I'm glad that there is a way to get her back and all…" Happy said quietly, "But I miss Lucy _now_." Natsu groaned loudly in response to Happy's words.

"We all miss her Happy," Gray said after considering his words for a minute, "But I think that we just need to focus on where we're going right now. We need to remember why we are going where we are going, I think that's all we can do. Because Lucy _isn't_ here right now." The words felt heavy on his tongue, and Gray really wished that he didn't have to be the one talking like this. "But she _will_ be if we can keep our heads long enough to do all of this right."

The cat sniffled once more, but he nodded in understanding and didn't say anything else on the matter for the rest of the train ride to Hargeon.

When they finally arrived, Natsu practically kissed the solid ground before swiftly standing up with the appearance that he hadn't just been groaning and complaining the whole trip there. "Alright! Now to find this Wes guy, Loke said he was a fisherman right?"

Gray nodded.

"But… isn't Hargeon a town for fishermen?" Happy asked from where he now sat atop of the bag that Natsu was carrying.

Natsu looked around and almost fell over when he saw that most of the people walking around were carrying fishing poles.

"This might be a little bit more tiresome than we thought it would be," Gray frowned before he shrugged, "Maybe we can just ask around. In a town like this, I wouldn't be surprised if everybody knew everybody. You know? I would definitely always want to know the names of my rivals." He glared pointedly at Natsu who didn't even notice.

In fact, Natsu was already approaching one of the randoms that was carrying a fishing pole.

"Hey! Do you know somebody named Wes? He is a fisherman who lives here, we came here from Magnolia to look for him." Natsu was grinning and the older man seemed to be a bit intimidated by Natsu as he took a few steps back to put some space between them.

Natsu really didn't have any boundaries.

"Wes? I'm sorry, I haven't lived here very long. But I _can_ tell you that if you head to the docks, there are bound to be people there who will know who you're looking for."

"Great! Thanks!" And of course, Natsu took off running towards where the man had gestured, leaving Gray to run off after him. So it really didn't take all that long for them to find where all the docs were located. It appeared to be a very busy day in a fisherman's world, as people were preparing their boats at impressive speeds.

Natsu grabbed the next person to walk by and repeated the question he'd asked the man from before, his eyes just as intense as always.

"Yeah, sure I know Wes. But you're not going to find him here, not right now. He went out a little while ago with a couple others, there is a pretty massive school of fish that's passing through. So everybody is trying to get a piece of that, now if you'll excuse me-" he cut himself off as he pulled away from Natsu, nearly falling over in the process since the Fire mage let the man go.

"Can you at least tell us when he might be back?" Gray spoke up.

The man seemed anxious to get moving, but he nodded. "When you go out on a boat, you could be gone all day. Though because of the sheer amount of fish that are here right now, I'd say they could be back within the hour or next few hours. So just sit tight, the name of his ship is Bertha. Good luck!" The young man then hurried off towards a boat that seemed to have been ready to leave without him.

Natsu groaned in annoyance.

"Calm down, you couldn't have expected to be able to get all of this sorted out immediately right? You can be such an idiot." The Ice mage wasn't surprised at all that they'd come to such a bump in the road almost immediately.

"What was that?!" Natsu demanded, his magic flaring as he turned to face Gray.

"I'm saying, that we went into this knowing that it wasn't going to be all rainbows and butterflies. You need to cool it before you wind up breaking something and get us kicked out before we have the chance to meet with this Wes person." He then smirked at the fighting stance Natsu had assumed, "Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to have the chance to beat your face in. But we really can't risk it, not here. Not right now."

Happy nodded in agreement as he patted Natsu's face.

Natsu sighed before he straightened up, putting visible effort in the small task. He was filled with adrenaline that he hadn't had the chance to vent out.

"I guess all we can do is wait then." Natsu frowned before stomping over to the nearest bench and plopped himself down.

Gray looked out on the horizon, watching all the boats that were leaving and returning and he nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we just gotta wait."

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Yay! They made it! Please be sure to review! I need that feedback my darlings ~


	5. Between Here and There

Woops, I actually had a difficult time deciding whether or not I wanted to give Lucy a chapter ehehe

I kind of feel like its more fun to not know, at least... for now anyway! I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter!

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They didn't spot Bertha until nearly five hours later.

Natsu's patience had been severely run thin and he'd jumped up so fast from the bench, so suddenly, that Happy nearly fell flat on his face from where he'd been seated in Natsu's lap.

"It's about time," Gray said as he stood up, his eyes glued on the ship called 'Bertha'. The bright red letters on the side of the fairly white ship were practically impossible to miss.

Meanwhile, Happy flew around their heads.

"The guy who will help us get Lucy has a lot of fish!" He said cheerfully as he began to drool in anticipation, "I hope he shares! I'm hungry!"

They had to wait a little bit longer before the boat reached the docks, even then… they decided that it would be best to wait until everybody on the boat was actually getting off. 'Common courtesy' Gray had said, though Natsu was really struggling to hold himself back. He didn't care about common courtesy right now. All he cared about was getting to Lucy.

That was the only thing that mattered right now.

Seeming to have picked up on Natsu's feelings on the matter, Gray took it upon himself to ask the first person to pass them instead of letting Natsu get his hands on him.

"Hey, a man named Wes was on that boat with you, right? Could you point him out for us? We have come to see him." The younger man seemed hesitant to reply.

"Don't worry Don, I was expecting these kids." Came a deep voice from directly behind all of them.

All eyes were on the new speaker. It was an older man who looked just as plain as the tickets that they'd been given to give to him. His pale blue eyes were kind, and his shaggy hair was snow white. Though nothing really stood out about him.

"I take it you're Natsu," Wes said, speaking to Gray. "I'm sorry to hear about your loss." He then patted Gray on the shoulder, missing the look that Gray was giving him. "Hopefully we'll get all of this squared away and everything will be alright."

"Oi! Old man, _I'm_ Natsu!" Natsu said angrily as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ticket that he'd gotten from Loke, "That's Gray, Loke gave us these tickets to give to you. Can you get us to wherever this Solin place is?"

Wes blinked before he pulled out a pair of very thick lensed glasses and looked closer at Gray before looking at Natsu.

"Oh, this boy definitely doesn't have pink hair. My mistake!" He then took the ticket from Natsu and pulled it close to his face, inspecting it as though he was looking for something. After a long moment, he nodded his head.

"Yep! Lucky for you guys, Bertha is already ready for the trip." He held his hand out so that Gray could hand over his ticket as well, once he had it the old man shoved the tickets into his pocket and waved his hand around before turning to walk back towards the boat.

"It isn't going to take the boys too long to get everything they need off of my girl, so just sit tight and wait a little bit longer."

Natsu was both thrilled and horrified by the news.

He had been spending so much time worrying about Lucy that he'd completely forgotten about what riding a boat entailed. As Wes crossed the thin board that ran from the boat to the doc, Natsu felt his stomach flip and his face turned green as he struggled to keep the contents of his stomach from seeing the light of day in an untimely manner.

"How uh, how long is this ride going to take?" Natsu managed to ask from where he stood on the doc, refusing to board until the very last moment.

"To get to Solin? About a day, if we're lucky." The old man said it as though it was nothing special while Natsu groaned loudly and clutched at his stomach that was already aching at the mere thought of going through such a long period of pain.

"Don't worry Natsu," Happy said as he watched Natsu struggle with himself, "I'll fly you every few hours or so to give your motion-sickness a break!" Natsu couldn't help but smile a little bit at this, though it faltered when he realized just how minimal his pain really was. It wasn't anything compared to the pain Lucy had gone through when she…

His dark thoughts immediately brought a grimace to his face, a look that neither Happy nor Gray failed to notice. Though neither one of them could think of something to say that might help, both of them knew that the only thing that would be able to mend the Dragon Slayer's shattered heart… was a certain blonde Celestial Spirit Mage.

Would they really be able to get Lucy back in just one day? Somehow… that seemed too good to be true. Everything that had happened thus far felt like it had happened too easily. From Loke showing up with the tickets… to them getting to talk to this guy in only five hours…

Something was bound to go wrong sooner or later, and Gray was willing to bet that it would be the former of the two.

"Alright, that should do it!" Wes exclaimed cheerfully as the last crate of fish was hauled from the ship. "We can get going right away!"

Before Natsu could so much as groan again, Gray effortlessly knocked the fire mage out with a solid fist to the back of his pink head. This caused Wes to jump in surprise at the sudden display of violence but Gray only lifted Natsu up and over his shoulder so that he could carry the unconscious mage onto the boat.

"Believe me old man, you'd thank me if you knew."

Wes regarded Gray with wary eyes before he shrugged. It wasn't really any of his business how his passengers treated one another. They certainly weren't going to do anything to their guide to Solin, and frankly… he trusted that truly bad people would go to so much trouble to try and contact somebody who had passed on.

"Here we go then, I can't remember the last time I had a new face to talk to. Say, when I was your age…" Old man Wes would continue on like that for hours, effectively making Gray wish that he'd been the one to get knocked out.

x~x~x

Truly, the journey to Solin felt like the blink of an eye for Natsu.

Mostly due to the fact that Gray was extra careful to make sure that Natsu remained unconscious throughout the entirety of it. Partly due to the fact that he felt bad for his guildmate, but mostly because he wasn't really in the mood to hear him groaning while Wes went on to tell Gray all about the life that he'd lead up until that exact moment in time.

One would be surprised just how much somebody could talk when given the chance and Gray was certainly under the impression that Wes didn't often get to go on about himself like this.

"Here we are boys!" Wes exclaimed loudly as he expertly steered Bertha into the empty harbor.

Moaning a little as he rubbed the back of his head, Natsu struggled to remember what exactly was going on. Once the boat was docked and he was able to scramble off of the death-trap, the rose haired mage easily was able to recall what was going on.

"Lucy!" He exclaimed loudly, as though just saying her name would be enough to bring her to him now that they'd arrived. When no such thing happened, Natsu sighed.

The island they'd been brought to seemed completely deserted. There wasn't a single person in sight, not even a building. All that they could see from where they stood… were trees. Lots, and lots of trees. Almost as soon as the doc reached land the forest began.

"Where exactly are we?" Gray questioned Wes who had just tied a pretty sturdy looking rope to the doc after dropping an anchor.

"Solin, I thought you knew that."

"I do know that old man!" Gray shouted, clearly fed up with the senile old coot. "What I meant to ask, is where we are on the island. Why did you stop us in front of a forest instead of at a more… _lively_ part of the island?"

The old man stared at Gray for a long moment.

"Solin isn't exactly known for 'lively' boy," he frowned, "do you know anything about where we are right now? Solin is an island where spirits can almost freely roam between the spirit world and the world of the living. Did you seriously ask me to take you here without knowing that much? You boys must be some kind of idiots or something." He then laughed loudly before shaking his head.

Both Natsu and Gray were staring at him as though he'd sprouted a second head upon his shoulder.

"Wait… did you say-" Gray began.

"Lucy!" Natsu exclaimed again, this time with a lot more enthusiasm as he took off running towards the forest without a second thought.

"Natsu!" Gray shouted after the flaming boy, watching as Happy quickly flew after him. When his two comrades were gone, he turned his gaze back onto Wes.

"Why did you say _almost_ freely roam between the spirit world and the world of the living?" Gray asked hesitantly, not entirely sure whether or not he actually wanted to hear the answer to his question. Everything about this whole situation seemed extremely ominous and he couldn't help but think back to Galuna island. The supposed 'haunted' island.

Of course, it hadn't actually been haunted. Though Gray had a very distinct feeling that told him the old man wasn't just yanking their chains on this one.

"Well yeah, if spirits could just come and go as they pleased do you really think I'd bring you here? I wouldn't touch this place with a hundred-foot pole!" He shivered, "To be honest… I don't care much for coming here despite the fact that the place isn't overrun with spirits. I only do it if a friend asks me to, and frankly… I owe Loke one."

Gray gritted his teeth, he was sensing a story and not a direct answer to the question that he'd asked.

Gray remembered Loke mentioning something and he felt a frown touch his lips as he struggled to recall exactly what it had been.

"Loke mentioned that we would have to talk to a mage… there are mages who live here?" Gray questioned and Wes nodded in response, "Where are we supposed to find them? I'm under the impression that this whole island is a forest."

"You won't find them, but they'll find you. The people on this island are very aware whenever somebody steps food on the land, so if I were you I'd hurry and catch up with your friend. I'll be here until tomorrow night, if you don't find me before then…" he trailed off and Gray shivered.

"You better not leave without us old man!" Gray shouted before he took off running in the direction that Natsu had gone.

He really was such an idiot.

It didn't take too long before Gray was able to find Natsu, the rose haired young man had slowed down when he became discouraged again after Lucy didn't show up when he called her name.

"Natsu, we need to-" Gray, once more, was cut off when suddenly he could feel magic in the air around them. It was an unfamiliar magic that automatically made the hair stand on his arms as he dropped into a defensive stance.

Natsu, not as stupid as he seemed, also took notice and looked around as he brought a decent sized flame to the palm of his hand.

Though it was impossible to see anything considering how dense the forest was. There were so many trees… Gray wasn't sure he'd ever seen such a thick forest before. It would definitely make fighting difficult for both him and Natsu if it came down to it.

"State your purpose," a loud voice rang through the trees, easily taking both of the Fairy Tail mages by surprise.

They couldn't tell which direction the voice was coming from.

"We're here for Lucy!" Natsu shouted, "Bring her to us!"

The voice laughed and Gray swallowed nervously, not liking the sound of it at all. "You come here and you have the gall to make such demands? You must be a fool, go home. You will not find who you are looking for here."

That did it.

Natsu growled and his flames flared dangerously, forcing Gray to jump back. He hissed at the burning sensation that he felt on his skin.

"WE'RE HERE FOR LUCY," Natsu repeated even louder, "BRING HER TO US!"

The voice stopped laughing and just when Gray was beginning to feel his hopes crash to the ground, he caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see a very old looking man step out from behind one of the trees that surrounded them. Natsu noticed as well and let his flames flicker out as he turned to face the old man. The stranger wore very long robes and easily gave off the air of importance.

"Please…" Natsu trailed off, the pain evident in both his face and voice. "We were told that you could help us… please help us."

The old man whose eyebrows seemed to cover both of his eyes didn't move as Natsu dropped to his hands and knees. Gray's eyes were nearly bulging out of his head as he watched Natsu beg. He never thought that he would see the day. He was too stunned by the Dragon Slayer's actions to try and mimic him.

"If we did this for every person who came to this island," the old man began, "We would never rest. Believe me when I say that you should let the dead rest, it is easier for you… and it is easier for them. You are young, it is likely you have never felt a loss to this degree before. I understand your wish to see this 'Lucy' again, but we cannot help you."

Natsu began to tremble and Gray felt his blood run cold.

"Go back the way you came, I'm sure Wes is waiting for you." Wes' name was loaded with a bitterness that shocked Gray. Though before he could think too much about it, the old man disappeared once more, reminding him of how quickly Loke could come and go.

For a long time they remained there, not saying anything.

For a long time they struggled to come to terms with what all of this meant.

"Lucy really isn't coming back…" Happy trailed off as his eyes began to fill, "We're never gonna see Lucy again…"

Natsu flinched at the cat's words before he slowly stood up.

"Yes we are, Happy." Natsu said, the determination in his voice felt out of place. "We're just gonna have to find a different way to talk to her is all, I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to do it!"

"I'll help you." came a new voice. A voice that was able to shake each one of the three Fairy Tail wizards to their souls.

Both Natsu and Gray whipped around to see a short brunette young woman whose long straight hair bellowed a bit with the sudden breeze, her pink eyes stared expressionlessly at them as she watched them carefully. She didn't appear as though she could be much older than either one of them, probably around the same age in fact.

Had she been there a moment ago?

"Y-you will help us?" Natsu asked, his voice wavering.

"Yes." she stated simply as she pushed away from the tree that she had tenderly been leaning against, her eyes were on Natsu. "The moment you arrived I could sense the connection between the two of you, even without the personal object. I want to help."

The smile that lit Natsu's face just then was enough to make the strange girl stagger back a step.

"Thank you!" Natsu shook his head before he repeated himself a little bit quieter, "Thank you…" it was clear that even though he'd spoken confidently about finding a different way to get to Lucy, he really hadn't had any idea as to how to do that.

The young woman hesitated before she knelt down upon the ground and gestured for everybody else to follow suit.

"Firstly," she began as she held out her right hand, "I need the personal object."

Natsu squinted at her and then looked down at the hand that she held out expectantly. "Personal object…?" He questioned lamely.

The girl frowned at him, "Yes. Do not tell me that you came here without an object that was precious to the person you are trying to contact."

"Natsu, the keys." Gray glared, "Seriously, are you an idiot?"

Natsu returned the glare before he unhooked Lucy's keys from his belt and handed them to the young woman. The second she touched them, she nodded with a knowing expression and pulled them closer to herself.

"Now, I'm going to need you to tell me about Lucy Heartfilia."

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I hope that you liked this chapter! It was a lot of fun to write! _Please_ review and let me know what you think of the story! I hope it was okay!


	6. Connection

I'm sorry this took so long! I have been spending a lot of my spare time drawing and working on my new NaLu fic ehehe but worry not my friends! I will certainly not forget about this story~ Though I do wish more of you would review so I can know whether or not people are enjoying the story!

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Really, the Afterlife was beautiful.

Once Wiatt showed up to help guide her, the empty space that had been around her before was no longer quite so empty. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Now, they stood within an incredibly colorful forest. The flowers that grew were nothing like anything that Lucy had ever seen nor read about. There were colors that she wasn't even sure she had ever seen before. All she could do was look around with her mouth agap.

She felt completely stunned by the things that she was seeing.

"The Afterlife is different for each soul," Wiatt explained after several long moments passed, effectively shocking the blonde woman out of her admirative state. He watched as her amazement shifted into grief when she remembered where exactly she was. "You, my dear, are quite the lover of many things. This is but a small taste of what awaits you here."

Lucy's sad eyes looked to the ground. Even the grass was an incredible shade that she wasn't quite sure she had ever seen. A part of her wanted to sit down and enjoy the feel of the grass against her skin, though another part of her couldn't fully appreciate the beauty that surrounded her.

"How can I enjoy a paradise like this without him?" She asked softly, not truly expecting an answer. Her heart ached, though she knew that couldn't be the truth. Did she even have a heart anymore? She was more than likely just an ethereal form, so why was it that her chest felt so tight?

Wiatt watched her with knowing eyes and she jumped a little when he patted her on the head a few times, effectively drawing her attention back to him.

"It is never easy at first, I cannot begin to tell you how many souls have been in your exact state of mind right now." He spoke with such a sincerity that Lucy couldn't help but wonder again who or what exactly this man was. Despite the fact that he had known her for all of what felt like five minutes… he seemed to genuinely care about how she felt.

"Life on Earthland is short, though the bonds that are formed within the time that you are there… they can be quite powerful. In fact, they are a bit on the unpredictable side. I'm sure you've heard the term 'soulmate' before?" When Lucy nodded he smiled softly, "The soul is a very… impressionable thing. The effects that different souls have on one another are really very impressive.

"Do you know what a soulmate is? I'm sure you understand the general idea, but do you know what it takes to be a soulmate to another?"

Lucy hesitated for a moment before she slowly shook her head.

"I always thought that a soulmate was supposed to be your other half," Lucy began, "That a soulmate was the person who you are meant to be together with. As though it was written in the stars." She swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump that had formed in her throat.

Wiatt nodded, "That is the belief that most Humans have come to. Which is good and fine, because you aren't completely wrong." Lucy watched him with wary eyes, she wasn't quite sure she liked where all of this 'soulmate' talk was headed. Why did she need to know all of this _now_? She was dead. It wasn't as though any of it actually mattered.

"There are different kinds of soulmates," he explained despite Lucy's uncertainty. "They aren't all romantically bound. There are a few rare instances where soulmates get together in decently sized groups. Some of these groups even name themselves." He raised an eyebrow at Lucy, "Can you see where I am going with this, Lucy?"

Lucy's eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it before slowly, her eyes widened and she swallowed nervously. "D-do you mean…?"

Wiatt smiled again, Lucy was a very intelligent person. He wasn't surprised. "One of the largest groups, goes by the name of Fairy Tail. Have you heard of it?"

Lucy's knees buckled and before she knew it, she was on the ground.

Sobs wracked her small frame as she hugged herself, the ache in her chest grew and she oh so desperately wanted to be with her friends again. Her family. _Natsu_. "Wh-why are you telling me all of this?" She gasped between sobs.

Wiatt watched the blonde cry for a moment before he looked away.

"Had you not met those people, you wouldn't' remember your life on Earthland so clearly right now, Lucy." He said gently, "It would take you a bit of time before you would remember the life you lived, it's all part of the adjustment process."

Lucy sniffled loudly but didn't say anything.

"You are not doing a very good job Wiatt-san." The new and familiar voice shook Lucy to her core and she froze. "She only just arrived, why must you torture her so?"

Slowly, as though she believed that if she moved too quickly the new person would leave, Lucy looked up from her tear drenched hands and her lip trembled when she recognized the woman who stood no more than five feet from her.

"M-mama?" She whispered.

The blonde woman above her smiled brilliantly and held out her hand, "Hello Lucy, it's been a while." Her voice was so warm and filled with love that Lucy couldn't help but jump up and throw her arms around the woman whom she had missed for years.

"Oh my," Layla Heartfilia chuckled softly as she began to pet Lucy's hair, "it's good to see you too dear."

Wiatt smiled at Layla before he bowed his head, "I'll return shortly."

Then, the two Heartfilia's were alone.

"You weren't suppose to come see me so soon sweetie," Layla was saying as she tenderly rubbed her other hand over Lucy's back. "I wasn't expecting you for at the very _least_ another sixty years." Her voice was gentle, though her words brought the tears back to Lucy's eyes.

"I-I know mama…" Lucy sniffled, "I wasn't st-strong enough…"

Layla stiffened a bit before she pulled back and placed both of her hands firmly on Lucy's shoulders. She forced her daughter to look into her eyes.

"Lucy Heartfilia," she said in such a way that only a stern mother could manage, "You have always been strong enough. Don't you for a second tell yourself otherwise, do you understand me?" She waited until Lucy nodded before she continued, "Do you think that most people would have the courage to do what you did? I think that you don't have enough faith in your abilities sweetie, do you think it's normal for a Celestial Spirit Mage to be capable of summoning three spirits at one time? It absolutely isn't!"

Lucy could feel her cheeks warming at all of the praise that her mother was giving, she felt so warm as she smiled at her mother.

"Yeah… I know. I guess it's just a little bit difficult to remember all of that when I…" she trailed off before sighing a little.

"Lucy, what you did may have been reckless… but there is no changing what happened. The sooner you realize this, the easier it will be sweetie." The woman's voice was firm, though Lucy could hear the underlying emotions.

Layla was sad.

"Now, how about you tell me a little bit about this Fairy Tail that I have heard so much about?" Layla smiled down at her daughter, "Or perhaps… about Natsu?"

Lucy swallowed nervously before she began to speak, expecting it to be difficult.

Though once she got started, the words flowed easily and soon… she was telling her mother all about the adventures that she had gone on with Natsu. She was talking about all the trouble that he had dragged her into, about how she secretly had enjoyed every minute of it.

For the first time in years, Lucy was able to tell her mother these things face to face.

For now… that was enough to keep Lucy in tact.

x-x-x

"I see, I certainly have a pretty firm grasp on who Lucy was." The brunette young woman said after the Dragon Slayer finally paused.

"Wait! I didn't tell you about the time when-"

"No no, it's okay." The girl held up her hand to stop Natsu from continuing, "I didn't ask for her whole life story, you know."

"Who are you anyway? You know so much about us now," Gray glared pointedly at Natsu before turning his skeptical gaze back onto the brunette who sat in front of them, "You never gave us your name."

Natsu blinked before he realized that Gray was right. He had been so eager to get to Lucy that he hadn't even thought twice before handing over the keys, suddenly he felt like an idiot. Though at the same time, he didn't really believe that this girl had any malevolent intent.

The girl seemed surprised by Gray's sudden suspicions, though she closed her eyes.

"My name isn't required for this process… though if you must know, it is Lilith." Her pink eyes opened and she stared at Gray, "I can understand why you may be hesitant to believe in what I can do, most people are despite the magic filled world that we live in." She then frowned, "But do you really believe that I could actually manage anything against either of you?"

The question took Gray by surprise, though he just scratched the back of his head and turned his gaze elsewhere. Lilith took his lack of response as a sign to continue and she gripped the keys in her left hand before she reached down and plucked one of the slips of paper that were floating at the end of a rope that was tied around her waist with her right.

The characters on the piece of paper changed from '狐' to '人間'.

Slowly she stood and gestured for Natsu to as well

Throwing the piece of paper to the ground, it landed and in a flash a bright green and yellow magic circle surrounded them.

The light took everybody by surprise, though when Natsu's eyes were able to adjust, he could see that Lilith's lips were moving. Though he couldn't hear anything that she might have been saying, which made him believe that she wasn't actually speaking.

Was this it?

Lilith then held out her hand that had been holding the keys and released them.

Only, they didn't fall.

They floated in midair.

"Now, call to her, Natsu!" Lilith commanded as she held her arms out and tipped her head back with closed eyes. "You are connected!"

"Lucy?" Natsu didn't even hesitate before calling the blondes name, "Lucy! Can you hear me?!"

x-x-x

' _Lucy! Can you hear me?!'_

Blonde hair bounced as Lucy's head jerked around in surprise at the somewhat distant, yet familiar voice called out to her.

"What is it?" Layla asked, clearly surprised by her daughter's sudden distress. Lucy had only just calmed down, so she was genuinely shocked by her sudden behavior.

Lucy then looked back to her mother with wide eyes, "You heard that, didn't you?" She asked with a frown.

' _Lucy! Please!'_

There was no longer a doubt in her mind, that was Natsu.

"Natsu?!" Lucy exclaimed, unsure whether to feel relief or dread. How was it that he was here? Had he…? Had he…? She shook her head in denial. There was no way Natsu was dead, that just wasn't possible. Natsu couldn't die!

Then, she was running.

Though no matter what direction she ran, the voice never grew or decreased in volume. Which confused her.

"Where are you, Natsu?!" Her squeezed in her chest as she searched frantically.

"Lucy!"

This time, it was her mother who was calling to her. Lucy stopped running and turned to face her mother who had just caught up. "Mama, I hear- Natsu he-" Lucy couldn't even finish her sentence. She had no idea what to say about what was happening.

"Lucy, I can't hear it because he is calling from within yourself."

Lucy's eyebrows knit together in confusion as she struggled to try and understand what her mother was saying. What could she mean 'within yourself'? Though, the second Lucy thought about it… she began to search internally.

' _... Natsu…?'_ she thought, completely uncertain about what she was doing. She actually felt like she was being stupid.

' _... Lucy! I can't believe it- Lucy! You need to come here!'_

Lucy flinched when Natsu replied to her, she felt as though she'd been slapped. Her heart beat frantically and she clutched at her chest as her lips trembled.

"Lucy… it's okay, I'll be here when you get back." Layla was smiling gently, encouragingly?

Lucy looked at her mother with wide eyes, when she got back? What on earth was going on?

' _Lucy!'_ Natsu sounded frantic, _'You gotta hurry! I don't think there is a lot of time!'_

"I love you, mama." Lucy whispered before she nodded and closed her eyes and turned her full attention onto the voice that was screaming her name in a way that made it impossible for her not to smile. The memories came flooding back and she could feel the tears threatening to fall despite the fact that her eyes were closed.

Searching, Lucy followed Natsu's voice until she could feel a foreign warmth beginning to spread through her whole body. She couldn't find a proper way to describe this feeling. It was as though light was beginning to fill every inch of her being.

She felt tingly.

Soon, the tingling faded and she had a feeling that something was… _different_.

Audible gasps proved that she wasn't wrong and her eyes snapped open.

The area was bright with a light that neither seemed natural, nor artificial. It didn't take too long for her to figure that it was magic.

The first person she saw was a brunette woman whose eyes were closed. Her long hair seemed to float as her palms faced the sky, she couldn't help but feel as though all of this was her doing.

"Lucy…" Natsu's voice, and it wasn't in her head this time.

Spinning on her heel, Lucy's long golden hair flashed in the light and she stared tearfully at the rose-haired mage who stared back with what appeared to be the same feeling of awe.

How was it that it could feel as though years had passed… yet also feel as though no time had passed at all?

"Natsu." she breathed.

* * *

Alright, so I'm going to explain a bit of the kanji that you saw in this chapter.

狐 means 'fox' or rather 'kitsune' if I am to be exact and 人間 means 'human' or rather 'ningen'.

Lilith's magic revolves around the summoning of spirits that belonged to creatures and humans who once lived.

Please be sure to review my friends! I need to know what you think, its a little bit difficult to feel motivated to write a story if I can't tell whether or not people actually like it :p


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